Loaning out a horse? Help!

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MoodleCob

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Hi All,
Due to a change in circumstance I need to loan out my horse, I've never done this before, I'm not sure wether I should do part/full, how much to ask, what I should ask/make sure of/draw up a contract. Can anyone help? I'm not sure I'm even allowed to ask about it here but Im not advertising it, i just want to know how best to go about it.
Please don't criticise or make any negative comments. I feel devastated enough as it is.
 
where abouts in the country are you?

As for loan ads, tack shops/feed merchants, equineads, preloved, horsemart for a start? Even facebook. Word of mouth may be better for local people, speak to your farrier, instructor, vets etc

Would you consider loaning him to an equine college?
 
If you can loan from where you are rather than allowing horse/pony to leave yard. You could do day loans or sharers if you can't find someone but it depends on the horse, ability and problems.
 
I'm in Yorkshire. She's a typical piebald cob who I used for happy hacking and was going to start showing in hand. She had a foal In July and I'm having to sell the little guy too. When I can bring myself to it I will ask the Y/O at livery if she knows of anyone. I'm just worried about all the things that can go wrong and all those horror stories you hear about.
 
You only get the bad news stories here about loaning, nobody starts threads entitled 'Horse loan still going well' so you don't hear the good stories. For every nightmare loan there are lots of good ones. You are doing the right thing by trying to get the fundamentals in place at the start. If you can keep your mare at the same yard or get a sharer (if that provides enough funds) you can still keep an eye on her.

I took a mare on loan, travelled her 40-odd miles to my yard, bought her after 18 months and she stayed with me until she was PTS well into her 20s. There are happy endings as well-honest.
 
Just to let you know I've had my boy on loan now for about 4-5 months, I'm still happy and owner is still happy, and most importantly horse is happy.

Before he came to me he was on loan for 4 years to a teenager - yas a dreaded teenager :eek: and it went exceptionally well:D she was 14 when she got the giant. She only had to give him up due to moving away for uni.

Just make sure you do you research,ask for references, and trust your instincts. Make sure their is a contract and that if for full loan you are clear with insurance arrangements and excess costs etc. if moving check the loan home before, and check afterwards - frequently at first.
 
My mare was on loan for 4 years almost. Couldn't have asked for a better home.


Go with your gut and do your homework.
 
Magnetic Sparrow said:
You only get the bad news stories here about loaning, nobody starts threads entitled 'Horse loan still going well' so you don't hear the good stories. For every nightmare loan there are lots of good ones. You are doing the right thing by trying to get the fundamentals in place at the start. If you can keep your mare at the same yard or get a sharer (if that provides enough funds) you can still keep an eye on her.

I took a mare on loan, travelled her 40-odd miles to my yard, bought her after 18 months and she stayed with me until she was PTS well into her 20s. There are happy endings as well-honest.
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This is so very true. Ive had loans go badly wrong but ive also loaned to some lovely homes, ive found it all a bit of a steep learning curve.
The only advice i can really give is to never become complacent, even if its a friend you are loaning too, make sure you keep in regular contact, by this i mean regular checks, dont just trust the person whose got her to tell you everything is ok, see your horse with your own eyes or if you cant get to check on them ask someone you trust. Initially i would check every week for the first month & then tail off to once a month, its surprising how quickly things can go wrong or a horse can loose weight.
Actually the other bit of advice i would give is if your not happy, for any reason, take the horse back straight away, dont be fobbed off & dont worry about upsetting your loaners, its your horse at the end of the day, make sure its written into your loan contract that you can terminate the loan at any time if you have concerns for the horses welfare.
 
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Unfortuunately many horses dissapear while on loan.
Before loaning out a horse ensure that it is Freezemarked on a part of it's body were it can be seen when being ridden so that it can always be identified in the future. However much the people you are loaning out the horse to apear plausable ensure that you ask for a copy of their passport, driving licence and rates bill and photocopy them.
Always ask to see were the horse is kept and once loaned check the horse at least once a month.
Get the loan agreament checked out by a specialist equine solicitor.
 
Some really good advise above, only have to add that you should get the loan agreement witnessed by someone who can vouch that the agreement was made and it is your horse, just as an extra precaution.

Do stipulate any conditions you have about how the horse is kept, i.e. part stabled, additional feed etc. Also putting in about feet and how long between farrier visits is a good idea.
 
Only problem I do see if that she had a foal in July, she won't be in full work so anyone loaning would have to do all the fitness work first.
 
I had my horse on loan initially and he lived in luxury compared to with his owners. The loan was initially for a year but 4 months in they offered me the chance to buy him at half the price they'd stated at the beginning of the agreement as they could see how happy he was and how well we got on. My YM found him advertised on facebook and knew of him as he was very local. We were the first people to view and I am very glad we were :)
 
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